China eyes investment surge for restive Xinjiang

BEIJING Jan 28 (Reuters) - China will push for a surge of investment in its restive far-west Xinjiang region, seeking to boost control and ethnic unity there after deadly riots last year.

The proposals for faster development in Xinjiang, which borders central Asia, were discussed at a meeting on Tuesday of central government officials, economic planners and executives from some of China's biggest energy conglomerates, which have a big stake in the region, official media reported on Thursday.

Zhou Yongkang, the ruling Communist Party's top official for domestic security, said central leaders would convene a special meeting later this year to "set in place major tasks for supporting accelerated development in Xinjiang and promoting lasting order and stability there", the People's Daily said.

Chinese energy companies at the preparatory meeting included China National Petroleum Corp, Sinopec, the State Grid Corp of China and the Shenhua Group, the daily and other newspapers said.

"Central (state-owned) enterprises must increase investment in Xinjiang," Zhou was quoted as saying. "Promote local economic and social development."

The reports did not spell out specific spending or growth goals for Xinjiang, which has oil and gas reserves and is spanned by a gas pipeline linking China to central Asian suppliers.

Xinjiang's economy grew by 8.0 percent in 2009, compared to national GDP growth of 8.7 percent.

Like a recent meeting on troubled Tibet, which lies next to Xinjiang, this meeting underscored Beijing's belief that the cure to ethnic discord lies in faster economic development, rather than a rethink of strict, top-down political controls, said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher on China with Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group. [ID:nTOE60P02X]

"Xinjiang is much more important than Tibet in high politics in Beijing, because of its oil and gas and strategic importance," said Bequelin, who has long studied the region.

Xinjiang's population of 21 million is divided mainly between Uighurs, long the region's majority, and Han Chinese, many of whom arrived in recent decades. Uighurs now make up about 46 percent of the region's population.

PROTESTS

In July last year, Uighur protests in Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, gave way to deadly attacks that mainly targeted members of China's Han Chinese majority. Many Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic people, resent the growing Han presence in the region.

At least 197 people died in the initial riots, mostly Han Chinese, and two days later Han residents held protests and staged revenge attacks on Uighur neighbourhoods.

At least 26 people have been sentenced to death over the riots.

Bequelin, the researcher, said China's leaders appeared to be paying more heed to job discrimination and economic imbalances stirring resentment among Uighurs.

"But if there is no true input from ethnic minorities on these new development plans, it's still unlikely they will ultimately benefit those minorities," he said. (Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim and Sanjeev Miglani)